Far From the Madding Crowd: February 2015

Tuesday, 24 February 2015

Unchained Melody

Malcolm and I took a trip to Mudeford, quite breezy but enjoyed the starlings amongst the crab and lobster pots piled up on the quayside. There were a few sparrows also, flitting in and out of the pots looking for some tasty morsels.

My Blog

I have taken the title of my blog from Thomas Hardy's fourth novel 'Far From the Madding Crowd' which he wrote in 1874. He took his title from Thomas Gray's poem 'Elegy written in a Country Churchyard' completed in 1750. Thomas Hardy was born in Dorset where he lived for most of his life and where he based the stories in his novels. The word 'madding' means frenzied and there is a sense of freedom I get being out in the countryside and being close to nature away from the frenzied atmosphere of the towns and cities. I live in Dorset and like Thomas Hardy, it is where I have lived for most of my life, my blog is mostly about nature in Dorset. I am a member of the Dorset Wildlife Trust. I will include my garden and anything of interest about the natural world in Britain.